Exodus 33:17
And the LORD said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name. And the LORD said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name.
After Israel's idolatry with the golden calf, Moses refused to lead a stiff-necked people to Canaan alone and pleaded that God's presence go with him and remain with Israel to guide them. God promised to do this thing also that Moses had spoken, granting his plea so that every prayer was answered and Israel would not be left without His presence and rest. He gave this assurance because Moses had found grace in His sight and He knew him personally by name, and that going with them is what makes known their favor and separates them from all other peoples on earth. Moses prevailed because he interceded unselfishly and refused to separate his case from sinful Israel, casting himself fully upon God and persisting step by step with urgency until God communed with him as a friend and answered firmly. Answered prayer only made him thirst for more, longing to come still nearer to see God's glory. Believers must therefore go to God as Moses did, taking hold of Him by faith in trouble and perplexity instead of reaching to human agencies, determined not to be satisfied without His presence and glory to carry on the great work.
Setting and Promise
Israel had fallen into idolatry with the golden calf and into repeated murmuring, and the Lord warned that He would not go in their midst. He offered to make Moses a great nation if Moses would let Israel go, but Moses would not accept that offer. God still held Israel in view as His people.
Moses' request was that God's presence go with him and remain with Israel to guide their journey to Canaan, the promised land. He said he could not go before them and pleaded that they not be carried up unless the Lord went with them. He so prayed because he carried the great responsibility of leading a stiff-necked and perverse people out of Egypt.
The verse is God's promise to do this thing also that Moses had spoken, granting his plea for continued presence and rest. Every prayer Moses had offered was answered. Israel would not be left without God's presence to guide them.
God gave this assurance because Moses had found grace or favor in His sight and He knew Moses personally by name. That answer showed special divine favor and willingness to answer his intercession. That favor extended to the people he prayed for. God's going with them is what makes known that Moses and His people have found grace and separates and distinguishes them from all other peoples on earth. God then promised to reveal His glory to Moses in that work, a privilege unmatched for fallen humanity.
Moses' Prevailing Intercession
Moses encircled sinful Israel with the arm of faith in unselfish intercession, refusing to separate his own case from theirs after the golden calf. He felt remorse as though himself guilty when they sinned, because he carried their burden and knew their perversity. He felt the terrible results if God left them to hardness and impenitence, that they would kill Moses, fall prey to their enemies, and dishonor God's name before the heathen.
Knowing his own unworthiness and unfitness for his calling, he understood that to have influence with the people he must first have power with God. He therefore cast himself and all his burdens fully upon God and poured out his soul before Him. He took his fear and burden over their repeated murmuring directly to God rather than relying on human wisdom or seeking help from the people, instead of dwelling on what was objectionable in them. His forty years in the wilderness had put away self and made room for God with him, so he could receive God's presence to carry the responsibility of leading a stiff-necked people out of Egypt.
He advanced step by step and persisted with urgency and fervency, refusing to cease after the first assurance of rest. Encouraged by that assurance, he drew still nearer because he desired to become more thoroughly acquainted with the invisible Leader. He sought to secure God's abiding presence at the present time as the proof of grace, longing to come still nearer for stronger assurance. His continued pleading for himself and the people met no rebuke for firmly asking for more.
God showed no displeasure at this urgency and persistence, and instead of reproving him stooped to listen to his supplications. He communed with him face to face as a man speaks with a friend, reading the sincerity and unselfish purpose of his heart. He tested and proved the quality of Moses' love and faith, and strengthened his fainting heart. He then answered firmly that He would do what Moses asked, granting his request because Moses had found grace in His sight and He knew Moses by name.
Answered prayer did not stop his pleading but made him thirst for greater tokens of blessing. Still unsatisfied and knowing he did not yet have the presence, he waited in desire for it. That desire became one great burden of soul that God's presence might be with him and that he might behold His glory. He therefore longed to come still nearer for stronger assurance and to see God's glory.
Seeking Presence Today
Moses' earnest pleading for God's presence on the journey to Canaan was granted because he had found grace in God's sight and was known by name, and his prevailing intercession makes him a type of Christ, the great Intercessor whom the Father always hears. Moses declared he could not go before the people unless the Lord went with him, and God promised to go with him in answer to that prayer. That answer means believers now must come to God as Moses did, with a faith that will not be satisfied without His presence and glory. They are to feel that they stand on the borders of the eternal world, determined to know more of God, gathering rays of light from the divine glory to press back the darkness enshrouding souls, trusting that He will walk in their midst with power.
God gives His presence to those who take hold of Him by faith in time of trouble and discouragement and perplexity, to meet the opposition Satan devises. Therefore believers must go straight to Christ, the Fountain Head, for the strength they need, instead of reaching out to human agencies. Moses persisted in prayer that he must have God's presence to carry the responsibility of leading a stiff-necked people out of Egypt, rather than dwelling on what was objectionable in them. His forty years in the wilderness had put away self and made room for God to be with him, so he could receive that presence. That presence and glory with him would help him carry on the great work, yet he still waited unsatisfied, knowing he did not yet have the presence and desiring it, which led him to ask to see God's glory.
Moses carried one great burden of soul, that God's presence might be with him and that he might behold His glory, and God promised to do this thing he had spoken because he had found grace in His sight. That same desire for God's presence and glory is the real object of those who come from long distances at great expense to learn how to become successful missionaries. It must not be sunk out of sight or forgotten by giving them more studies than are absolutely necessary and long years of preparation.